By DARLENE VANN / Headline Surfer Blog: Musings
EDGEWATER, Fla. -- Bright yellow crocus are waving in the breeze, tiny seedlings are stretching their necks toward the sun, and a warm tropical breezes begin to blow. It’s Spring!
This is how it should be, calm peaceful and beautiful. But something is dreadfully different this year.
March came in like the proverbial lion and seems to have no intention of going out like a lamb. That proverbial lion is COVID-19 or as it's more commonly called, the coronavirus, and it exists as part of our lives.
This nasty strain is devastating people all over the world.
It is not "The Chinese Virus" as Donald Trump, our illustrious president calls it. Yes, China is where we first started hearing about it in the last weeks of 2019, but from reports I have seen on the news, it could actually have been around since November of last year.
The US first became aware of the coronavirus when reports started coming from China and their country eventually shut itself down. Since we have sent most of our manufacturing jobs to China in recent decades, we now face shortages in everything from medicines to toys.
The United States has always had the mentality it can’t happen here. Certainly that was the mentality of Trump, who took it a step further, dismissing it at first as a "hoax" before more and more people started getting sick and dying. We are being shown in no uncertain terms that this is simply not true that it could not happen here. It has and we were not prepared for the devastating results with more and more people becoming sick and dying.
The United States has always had the mentality it can’t happen here. Certainly that was the mentality of Trump, who took it a step further, dismissing it at first as a "hoax" before more and more people started getting sick and dying. We are being shown in no uncertain terms that this is simply not true that it could not happen here. It has and we were not prepared for the devastating results with more and more people becoming sick and dying.
This has caused a nationwide panic of the likes not seen in our lifetime.
The vast majority of us are shut in our homes self isolating. There has been panic buying and hoarding of supplies, namely toilet paper, but why that is I do not understand.
Selfish people never giving a thought to their fellow man have stripped the selves of everything they can get their hands on. This has all been sad to watch on the news every day as our population began dealing with the virus the wrong way with our president having set the poor example.
Fortunately, some people remembered that many school children often get their only real nutritious meal at school so the schools started giving out food to those families whose children need it by picking it up from the schools curbside by school personnel.
Then since we have been banned from going out to eat any more restaurants are trying to keep their employees working and paid by providing takeout meals.
Restaurants and fast food joints have been forced to stop serving dine in service with only take-out and delivery as options. So we order from home and have anything you can name delivered, but has anyone thought about the fact that the virus can remain on surfaces like door handles, ATM touch pads, etc and that people who may be carriers of the virus and not even know it because they have not yet shown symptoms and contaminating everything they touch.
The packaging and the items from near and far that we receive may bring the virus into unsuspecting people's homes.
The various grocery delivery persons are leaving your groceries at your doorstep now which protects them, but they were in the store with others so who knows if their handling of things has contaminated what we receive in bags, wrappings, whatever? That makes delivery hard on folks who cannot go out to buy food and other necessities in person; and for those heeding self isolation at the mercy of thieves who may be stealing their purchased items if they have not retrieved them quickly enough from their front entranceways.
So what do we do?
We can start gardens like during World War II when everyone who could had a victory garden and goods were rationed, but these home-grown foods take a long time to grow.
We must use our heads and do everything we need to do to be safe without being panic stricken.
Many, many people who are getting the coronavirus are recovering, but others are not as more are dying each day as it is a dire situation that mass panicking won't help.
Many will get the coronavirus and feel nothing while others may feel symptoms like the flu and yet recover. And still others will not recover at all. For them, dying is the end result.
Only time will tell however long that may be. Some, like President Trump say it could all be over in a few weeks and that he can't wait to see the churches full of people on Easter Sunday.
Many of the scientists who have studied pandemics like this say it could be anywhere from a month to several months before COVID-19 has run its course.
Time will tell. The major cable news outlets do not give us much about the survivors' numbers but they do show us filled hospital beds and refrigerated semis backed up to hospital doors to hold bodies for transport to the morgue. bodies. All that does is terrify people even more.
Meanwhile, we need to thank those who on the front lines that cannot self isolate - the first responders: These include police, firefighters, EMTs, ambulance drivers, and of course, doctors, nurses, and other specialists such as respiratory specialists.
Still others who put their own lives ob the line are CNAs and the staffers that clean floors, and wipe everything down, take out the trash and cook food in the hospitals and nursing facilities. Some of these special people have gotten the coronavirus and have died, but many of their co-workers have soldiered on for the sake of their fellow man.
We owe them more than we could possibly pay them. We also owe the unselfish people who deliver food and other supplies to our homes. Their sacrifices seem so large I do not know how we can repay them as well.
Our military is on alert all over the world and the personnel at risk as well. When you can, please at the very least, thank these wonderful people on the front lines - maybe not now, but certainly later.
I must also address those thoughtless people who only think of themselves and refuse to self isolate. They feel fine so they have no compunction about going to visit others or to gather outside of the home, then bring back God knows what to the other occupants, some of whom may be elderly or at risk for some other reason. They do as they please and to hell with the consequences, but will be the first to think they should be taken care of when they too get sick.
Now that makes me furious. I know some of these people. I fear for their loved ones as well as for myself, but I cannot control them nor can anyone else.
So what can we do during this terrible time?
Follow the rules that were put into place for your safety. Self isolate if you can, clean and sanitize everything you can, wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds many times a day. Limit visits and avoid careless people you know who may infect you thinking only of themselves. Be cautious and mindful of what you are doing, be kind and help your fellow man and most important be aware, but do not panic.
That is all we can do right now and pray for the entire world to get through this horror.
Multimedia / Below: YouTube download / CDC video / COVID-19 survival tips.